Jon Finkel

Infobox Magic:_The_Gathering_Player
name = Jon Finkel


image_width = 250
caption = Jon Finkle
birth_date = Birth date and age|1978|5|18|mf=y
birth_place = Brockport, New York
death_date =
death_place =
residence = New York, USA
nationality = United States
winnings = $332,369
pt_top_8 = 12
gt_top_8 = 9
pt_median_finish =
lifetime_pro_points = 420
highest_constructed_rating =
highest_limited_rating =
matches_played = 1512
footnotes =

Jon Finkel (May 18, 1978 — ) is an American "" player.

He was winning tournaments before there was anything called a "". Once the "Pro Tour" set up shop in the Puck Building one blustery weekend during February 1996, Jon Finkel began winning there as well. In addition to his unprecedented – and still unmatched – career with 12 "Pro Tour" Top 8 finishes, Jon racked up two "Junior Pro Tour" Top 8s during that first season. That means Jon has played on Sunday of a "Pro Tour" a staggering 14 times.

In recent years, Finkel, like fellow Magic players David Williams and Noah Boeken, has been playing in high-level poker tournaments. After a two year hiatus from competitive play, he returned to Magic at Pro Tour: Prague on May 5, 2006, where he finished 301st out of 414 entrants. [cite news
url = http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgevent/ptpra06/standfin
title = Pro Tour Prague 2006: Final Standings
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
date= 2006-05-05
accessdate = 2008-08-01] Along with former teammates Dan and Steve O'Mahoney-Schwartz, Finkel participated in "Pro Tour Charleston" on June 18, 2006. Their team, "Antarctica", finished 141st out of 175 teams. [cite news
url = http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgevent/ptcha06/standfin
title = Pro Tour Charleston 2006: Final Standings
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
date = 2006-06-18
accessdate = 2008-08-01]

More recently, he made his 12th Top 8 at Pro Tour Kuala Lumpur, finishing 1st after the Swiss rounds, losing only one round over the first two days, being the first player from the first class of the Hall of Fame to Top 8 one of Magic's highest level tournaments, before going on to win the event becoming the first PT Hall of Fame winner to win a Pro Tour after he was inducted.

Finkel also has been involved with Tenacious Games in the development of their game "The Spoils" as an advisor since 2002. In 2006, he also became an investor in the company.

Career Highlights

* He is currently ranked second all time in ' earnings, with $332,369 won in DCI sanctioned tournaments. He has won numerous Pro Tour tournaments and was the 2000 '. Nicknamed "Jonny Magic", he has been considered a poster boy for "Magic: the Gathering" since his rise in the late 1990s.
* Many consider him to be the best player the game has ever seen, although that title has been challenged by Kai Budde of Germany, who has surpassed Finkel's marks for lifetime earnings and Pro Tour titles.
* The 1999-00 season saw Finkel return to take the "U.S. National Championship" playing the notorious monoblack Napster deck. He went on to lead the U.S. National team to victory in the team competition and also won the "World Championships" over Bob Maher in an exciting Tinker mirror match.
* Finkel was inducted into the first class of the "" after receiving 67 out of 69 possible votes. In regards to Finkel's nomination for this position, Mark Rosewater, wrote:

* Finkel won the "Magic Invitational", for which the prize is designing a card for the game, in 2000. [cite news
url = http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/207
title = Magic Invitational 2002
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
date= 2002-10-17
accessdate = 2007-01-14] The card he designed was [http://gatherer.wizards.com/gathererlookup.asp?name=shadowmage+infiltrator Shadowmage Infiltrator] (originally named "Shadowmage of Leknif", "leknif" being "Finkel" spelled backwards), which appeared in the set and later in Time Spiral. Finkel originally submitted a different card: a Wrath of God variant called "Wrath of Leknif". This card costed 1UWW and had the text of: "Destroy all creatures. They can't be regenerated. Untap up to four lands you control". Its untap clause was deemed too powerful by Wizards of the Coast Research & Development.
* Jon is the subject of the book [http://www.randomhouse.com/randomhouse/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400064076 Jonny Magic and the Cardshark Kids] by David Kushner, published by Random House in August 2005.

2000 World Championship Decklist

Finkel played an explosive deck that is named after its most important card, Tinker. Fellow "Team Antartica" member Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz designed this monoblue deck, which was inspired by the deck that Lan D. Ho and Giro Maier played at Pro Tour: Chicago 1999. Likewise, "Tinker deck" uses artifacts such as Grim Monolith, Metalworker, and Voltaic Key to quickly generate huge amounts of mana, and then uses that mana to put large creatures into play. [cite news
url = http://www.wizards.com/magic/expert/wcd2000/wcd2000_pcd_finkel.asp
title = 2000 World Championships Deck List
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
date=
accessdate = 2008-08-01] ;Lands (21)
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Crystal_Vein Crystal Vein]
* 9 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Island Island]
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Rishadan_Port Rishadan Port]
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Saprazzan_Skerry Saprazzan Skerry]

;Creatures (9)
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Masticore Masticore]
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Metalworker Metalworker]
* 1 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=8865 Phyrexian Colossus]

;Other Spells (30)
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Brainstorm Brainstorm]
* 1 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Crumbling_Sanctuary Crumbling Sanctuary]
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Grim_Monolith Grim Monolith]
* 1 [http://sales.starcitygames.com/cardsearch.php?singlesearch=Mishra%27s%20Helix Mishra's Helix]
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Phyrexian_Processor Phyrexian Processor]
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Tangle_Wire Tangle Wire]
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Thran_Dynamo Thran Dynamo]
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Tinker Tinker]
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Voltaic_Key Voltaic Key]

;Sideboard (15)
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Annul Annul]
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Chill Chill]
* 4 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Miscalculation Miscalculation]
* 1 [http://sales.starcitygames.com/cardsearch.php?singlesearch=Mishra%27s%20Helix Mishra's Helix]
* 2 [http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Rising_Waters Rising Waters]

References

*

External links

* [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=37217 Hendon Mob poker tournament results]

Persondata
NAME= Finkel, Jon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=
DATE OF BIRTH= Birth date and age|1978|5|18|mf=y
PLACE OF BIRTH= New York, New York
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=